Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of communication networks and, more particularly, to adaptive transmit power control in a communication network.
In many data communication systems, such as wireless communication systems and powerline communication (PLC) systems, the data communication medium can be shared among multiple network devices. Carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols can be employed to minimize interference between network devices in a shared communication medium. In accordance with the CSMA protocols, a transmitting network device can sense the shared communication medium and transmit on the shared communication medium after verifying the absence of other traffic on the shared communication medium. If the channel is occupied, the transmitting network device can defer its transmission until the channel becomes available.